


Ill Met by Moonlight

by passing-fanciful (kageygirl)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 22:56:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2446199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kageygirl/pseuds/passing-fanciful
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's almost refreshing--a nice normal crisis that could happen in any town.  Power outage.  No big deal, right?  </p>
<p>(Missing Scene for 4x02, "White Out.")</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ill Met by Moonlight

There's enough light seeping in through the windows for Emma to make her way up the stairs at Granny's without incident, though she keeps one hand on the railing, just in case; "Sheriff Knocks Herself Out" is not a headline she needs to see in the Daily Mirror, thanks.

Not that she's picked up the paper in a while (the year away in New York doesn't count); once you've had your own trumped-up mug shot on the front page, you _kind_ of feel like you've seen all you need to see of the local journalism.

In the upper hallway, the moon coming in through the stained-glass window turns the patterns on the rug and wallpaper from "cheesy and dated" to "slightly ominous," the burgundy more like old blood, and Emma frowns at the morbid turn her thoughts have taken. 

She knocks on the door three times in quick succession, and hears a rustle of movement right away, a faint glow edging under the door. Then he's there, cracking the door open, throwing it wide when he sees that it's her.

"Swan," he says softly. He steps in close, so close, and she draws in a breath to tamp down the butterflies (every time; she wonders if this will ever wear off). He licks his lower lip, and she can't help staring at his mouth (mistake; the butterflies fucking _love_ that). "Come to take advantage of the cover of darkness?"

"Not exactly," she says, but she's guessing her no-nonsense tone is kind of ruined by the beat or two it takes her to actually meet his _eyes_. They're wicked and suggestive in the low light, and she rubs her hands down her pants to counter the itch in her palms.

"A pity," he says, inclining his head, angling just a bit closer to her, his breath brushing over her lips. "You look quite fetching by candlelight."

She rolls her eyes, but can't help the smile that sneaks up on her. "I'm not here to see how pretty _you_ look, either," she says, and his sudden grin cuts through the gloom. 

"Pretty" isn't really the right word. The flickering light casts shadows on his face, giving an ominous cast to his good looks; the grin doesn't make him look less threatening as much as it makes the threat a more intimate, personal one.

It's not her safety that looks to be in danger, but her virtue, and oh, how she longs to show him how virtuous she _isn't_.

She shakes her head--at him, at herself, at everything--because there's an unexplained power outage in a town that had a snow monster attack _yesterday_ , and she really doesn't have time for this. 

Later, maybe, once the power's back on. There'll be time to deal with him--with _them_ \--later.

"I suspected as much." He straightens, looking less disappointed than resigned; that little bit of breathing space lets her realize that he's fully dressed, coat and all, and that the candlelight is actually coming from a lantern on the table beside the door.

She stares at the lantern, considers asking about it for a second, then drops that in the box marked _Storybrooke Weirdness, Not Currently Important_. "David's coming to pick me up in a minute--we're gonna go check this out. I thought you might want to help out."

"I'm always at your service, love," he says, and bows his head in one of those movements he makes sometimes, that remind her more of knights and castles than pirates and ships--like a guy who knows how to waltz. But his eyes are twinkling, less loyal subject and more scoundrel. "Far be it from me to ignore a damsel in distress."

"I am not in _distress_ ," she says, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm in... concern."

"Of course," he says, smirking at her, and she lets out a breath because even when he's being annoying, he's dangerously cute, and it's getting harder to remember not to encourage him. He snags the lantern with his hook, then gestures her out of the doorway with his hand.

He locks up, then gives her a short nod. "I'll head out now, see what I can find."

She blinks at that. "You don't want to ride with us?"

"And let myself be seen consorting with the local constabulary?" he says, raising his eyebrows, and dammit, there's that "cute" thing again. "I'll poke about by myself first, see if there's anything a devious underhanded criminal mind might notice." He widens his eyes at her, catching a gleam from the windows. "Though if you wish to... consort... under less trying circumstances, love, I'm certainly at your disposal."

"Killian…" she says, and stifles a sigh.

He tilts his head, searching her face, all seriousness now. "This darkness isn't the only thing bothering you, is it?"

"It's just--it's Henry." She folds her arms over her chest and gives him a tight shrug. "Regina doesn't want to see him, and it kind of upset him. I'm not sure how to make him feel better."

"You'll figure it out, Swan," he says, giving her a gentle smile. "You always do."

* * *

They split up at the base of the stairs, and Emma swings back through the diner. Henry's right where she left him, hunched over the counter. "Take care, kid. I'll be back soon, okay?"

She reaches for his shoulder, intending to hug him to her side, but he shies away, his hands curled around his still-untouched cocoa. "Yeah. See you."

And it hurts.

She swallows down the lump in her throat, and goes to wait for David at the curb.

* * *

It takes them a little while to really get a move on trying to find the source of the power outage. There are a few minor accidents to clear up--losing streetlights and traffic lights at the same time is a bitch, with the way some people drive around here--and the cell towers are down. While Emma calls around for the ambulance and tow truck, David contacts four of the dwarves and gets them on traffic duty, handing out the battery-operated batons in the trunk of the squad car.

Then it's off to the substation. They circle the fence on foot, and agree with their completely untrained eyes that it doesn't _look_ like anything fell down, blew up, or got stomped on by another snow monster. 

That leaves following the transmission lines out toward the edge of town, which leads them directly to _holy shit ice wall_.

They're basically just staring at it, having a nice father-daughter moment of _well, what the hell do we do about this_ when Killian appears with the news that the whole town is walled in. "I get a distress call from a fair maiden and I'm on the spot," he says to David, with a swagger that says he has absolutely caught on to the annoying-but-cute thing, but Emma finds it easier to ignore the "cute" part with her father standing right there and a giant artificial glacier trapping them in town.

"I was not distressed," she reiterates, but he's unfazed by the correction.

When David goes to answer a radio call, he starts teasing her without missing a beat, but there's an undertone of truth to his words that makes her uncomfortable. He's right, they _haven't_ had a real date--but how's she supposed to find time, between snow monsters and Regina breaking her kid's heart?

It's almost a relief when she sees a hint of movement at the wall, just as he's getting close to her again, because thinking about Henry means thinking about missing out on hugs. And Killian's talk of dates and dinners they haven't had isn't the same thing at all, but there's a hollow little ache in her chest, and maybe working out this ice wall business will distract her until it goes away. 

She's definitely avoiding him again--they both know it--but there _is_ an actual emergency going on here, and for right now, that's what she needs to focus on.

Later. There will be _plenty_ of time for--for feelings and non-date dates and whatever else this is--later. 

Like he said before, they have all the time in the world.


End file.
